Help Me Grow

Since our referral from the DDBP, we have been in contact with the local Help Me Grow office to begin therapy for Sam's speech delay.

Help Me Grow aims to identify and serve children under the age of three with developmental delays and disabilities, as provided for under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Throughout Ohio’s 88 counties, local Help Me Grow programs communicate with parents, doctors, hospitals, child care providers and other community agencies to identify children with existing developmental delays, or those with medical diagnoses with a high probability of delay. 

Parents and caregivers with concerns regarding their child’s development can have their infant or toddler evaluated by an interdisciplinary team at absolutely no cost to the family. Children are evaluated for delays in the areas of adaptive, cognitive, communication, physical, and social-emotional development using appropriate diagnostic tools. Should intervention be deemed necessary, individualized services are provided to the child and family through a Service Coordinator who guides the family through every aspect of the process, from program entry until the child transitions out by age three. 

The first meeting last week was an informational session with our service coordinator who explained the program, took general information about Sam, and conducted some basic observation of him. During the meeting she mentioned a couple of times "if he's accepted", which left us wondering if he was delayed enough to be able to receive services. When pressed, she couldn't say definitively but felt from what she learned that morning that he would be entered into the program.

This week our service coordinator returned with an occupational therapist to conduct a more thorough evaluation of Sam's capabilities. This was similar to the one at the DDBP where they handed him toys and asked him to follow simple commands. Honestly, I wish each agency could just share reporting from a single evaluation. It's not that they are difficult, but it just delays us actually starting therapy since all this has to be done first. 

This would be Sam's third eval, and all of them come to the same conclusion -- no medical diagnosis for any delay, but he is behind in verbal communication and borderline behind on cognition. He was accepted and will be working with a speech and occupational therapist to help get this boy talking.

The Help Me Grow team will come to our house regularly to conduct sessions at a time that both Michael and I are available (7:30am) so that we can observe and learn the techniques they are using with Sam. 

It has been 6 weeks since Sam's pediatrician first recommended evaluations and services for Sam, and I think we are finally through all the preliminary steps to actually start therapy. Last week we took Sam to his first speech therapy session at the children's hospital, and we'll continue with those every other week, along with the home sessions with Help Me Grow. 

Many people we talk to say the same thing we have always believed, that he's fine and developing at his own pace. However, while we also feel that way, we are grateful to have all these resources to begin early intervention with him. We feel that the early intervention will be key to keeping him from falling further behind and will better discover and serve his most effective way of learning. We're so glad that our pediatrician didn't take the wait-and-see philosophy to see where he is in 6 months before encouraging further action.

Meanwhile, just in our home interactions with him, we can tell he is communicating with us more, but just not using words. He loves to bring us our shoes or his shoes to tell us he wants to go outside (and is insistent that we put them on). He loves playing hide and seek and chasing after his brother. He has begun doing arm motions with songs like Patty Cake and Wheels on the Bus, and excitingly, the other day it sounded like he was humming the tune afterward, which would be a first. (There were four witnesses and all agreed!)

We care continuing to work with him on following instructions, reading to him and pointing to specific pictures, using sign language and singing. We want to also look into play group therapies to give him interaction with other children. 

We are so anxious for every little sliver of progress, so I am attuned to each new, minute thing he does. I am hopeful that between both his therapy programs we can look back in 3 months and already see notable progress.